


River

by mech



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M, Werewolf AU, Werewolf! Wash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-07-24 09:44:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7503513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mech/pseuds/mech
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For just one second, Tucker was relieved that he hadn't let Wash walk him home.</p><p>When a mysterious beast puts Tucker in the hospital, Wash can't help his protective side from wanting to kick it's ass to sate some kind of  heroic retribution. However, when everything in town starts going to shit, it's up to the both of them to get to the bottom of it without losing themselves, or each other in the process.</p><p>(on hiatus)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Whoever came up with the phrase, 'eyes in the back of your head' had obviously forgone including paranoid teens with trust issues at the top of the list. 

"Ow!" Wash yelped, reaching up with one arm to hold the side of his hair as Tucker's hands darted up to cover his mouth in shock.

"Oh shit dude!! I told you I was bad at skipping rocks, but I didn't know I was _that_ bad! Do you need a bandaid or something?"

Wash shook his head, giving a small flat smile to the unreassured pout of Tucker's lips. "No, no bandaids. I'm fine."

"Oh really."

"Yes, Tucker. Yes really." Wash huffed and lowered his hand as Tucker hopped across rocks to come sit next to him, dangling his bare feet into the cool water below. 

The river expedition had been Wash's idea, and Tucker came along on the basis of meeting 'hot river babes', despite the fact that he hadn't left Wash's side since they first arrived.

"I'm absolutely relaxed at the peak of my mental and physical health."

"Well, I think you should take a chill pill more often." Tucker commented idly, tossing another rock into the water, and nudging Wash's freckled leg with his own.

"What are you even talking about?" Wash couldn't stop his mouth from twisting down a little as he glanced back at Tucker.

"Dude. You're too busy doing homework like, all the time. _Especially_ at weird times during the month."

Oh. Wash could feel his own muscles tense up some as he rolled his shoulders back, trying to relax them. "Well, we can't all ditch class."

"Hey! That was like, one time. And you know Sister has a way with getting guys to do whatever she wants. Unless she thinks they're cops. Speaking of which..."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Aww, come man..That shit's fuckin hilari-AH!"

Tucker let out a largely undignified yell as Wash pushed him down into the water below, brushing his hair out of his face and glaring when he surfaced.

"Oh, it's on like donkey kong!!"

By the time they reached Wash's house the sun was already setting, and their clothes were finally drying after a couple of hours of splashing around in the water.

"Man, my shoes are so damp." Tucker complained, looking down with distaste at his waterlogged socks.

"You started it." Wash said, without a hint of remorse. He stopped at the trail leading towards his house and squinted back at the setting sun, fixing Tucker with a distrustful look.

"Look, I really think I should walk you home-"

"WASH." Tucker fixed him with a glare. "What is this, like the tenth time you've offered this today? I told you man, I'm fine. We live in a pretty nice place anyways. Just..."

He let out a sigh, running his hand over his head. "Just _trust_ me, okay?"

Without a verbal answer, Wash just gave a thumbs up, giving his best attempt at a tired smile of resignation. 

"Goodnight, Tucker."

"Yeah, yeah, gross niceties." Tucker threw up his hand in a wave as he began to jog backwards away from Wash, looking over his shoulder down the road. "I'll see you at lunch tomorrow!"

He jogged until Wash was completely out of sight before taking a breather, shaking his head and stretching his arms back over his head as he studied the long, winding road in front of him.

"Talk about an over-protective streak..." A snap startled Tucker out of his thoughts as he glanced at the trees warily, taking a step back. "Wash...? I swear to God man, if you followed me I'm gonna sit alone at lunch again-"

A low growl made Tucker freeze in his tracks, staring in horror at the treeline ahead of him. He nearly dropped his phone into the darkness, cursing quietly during his scramble to get it out.

Finally he got it, clicking the home button with some relief and eyeing the selfie of him and a confused looking Wash with no small amount of satisfaction. However, the second he pressed the flashlight button, Tucker could feel his relief tangibly shrivel up within him. 

The looming furry face in front of him was bared into a vicious snarl, and as Tucker considered his options, his phone slipped through his shaking fingers, and the growl dropped into a deeper, and even more threatening decibel.

"Okay well..If you run things can chase you right? Yeah..Aren't you supposed to talk to bears or some shit so they don't attack?..." The large wolf took a step closer and Tucker took one back, gulping.

"..."

"..Can I call you fluffy?"

The wolf tilted it's head slightly, and for just one second Tucker was convinced that it would back off. But the lips were angled all wrong, the eyes too sharp as it looked onto him with a violent smirk of fangs and bared teeth.

For just one second, Tucker was relieved that he hadn't let Wash walk him home.

And then it lunged.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1\. wash and Tucker fight
> 
> 2\. more insight into wash's past
> 
> 3\. who's this douchebag??

The cool, hospital chair was comforting against Wash's back, despite the harsh tension in his shoulders, and the strength with which he clenched his arms with his hands.

The hallway outside of the room was quiet, save for the occasional squeak of a wheel or soft conversation, trailing just a little too far outside of Wash's range for him to latch onto.

A fluorescent light above flickered and Wash flinched, looking down upon his too white shoes as he tried to ignore the memory of his own hospital visit trying to surface.

A concussion, they said.

The strangest they'd ever seen...

 _Creak_ , said the passing wheel on a gurney.

 _I wish I was home_ , Wash thought to himself.

The door opened.

With little to no hesitation Wash shot right up out of his chair and headed over to the exhausted looking Doctor, who glanced up and reached up to Wash's shoulder to stop him from entering.

"Your friend really needs some rest David-"

"I need to know if he's okay."

"He was in a bad shape when they brought him in, but for now he's stable."

"Doctor Grey. Please."

Wash stared intently up at the doctor to try and make her understand. Finally, with a long sigh, she dropped her hand from his shoulder and gave a tired smile, waving him on inside.

"Five minutes. Take any longer and I'll personally strap you to a backboard and hoist you to your own front doorstep." Her voice once again became just as cheerful as always as she stretched and yawned, giving Wash a parting thumbs up as she strolled away.

With a deep breath he turned back to the door.

Tucker was gonna be fine. Continuously, even. Better than Wash had hoped, although he couldn't shake the feeling that something still wasn't quite right. 

He cringed at a stab of pain to his head, reaching up to rub his temple as he prayed to whatever deity that this wasn't another migraine coming on. 

By the time a nurse stopped to outright stare at him, Wash had decided that he had had enough and pushed inside of the room, looking around. "Tucker..?"

It was a normal hospital room, nice view of the courtyard below except Tucker wasn't even bothering to squirm around or play with the TV remote lying next to him. Instead he was just sitting still on the bed, only inclining his head slightly to the side to smile.

"Hey, Wash."

"Hey. _Hey_?!" Wash tried to keep his voice from growing shrill as he stared in disbelief, walking forwards. 

"That's all you have to say Tucker? Hey??"

"I mean, it's usually a pretty good start."

" _Tucker _." Wash ignored how Tucker's smile dipped into a frown as he leaned over him, meticulously looking over him in a frenzy of paranoia.__

"Your left side is completely covered in bandages and- did it get your neck?!" Wash reached over to touch but Tucker slapped his hand away, frowning deeper. 

"Yeah Wash, they're my badass battle scars from my pimped up fight in the forest. Did you come to do anything else but lose your shit? Cause I'm on a shit ton of drugs right now, and everything is sort of hazy."

"You should have let me walk you home." Wash bared his teeth some in aggravation, and if Tucker noticed anything strange about it, he tacked it off to the medication.

"Come on man, you couldn't have done anything. Relax."

"Oh you have GOT to be kidding me. Relax, Tucker! Seriously?! You were attacked!!"

"Not helping.." Tucker muttered, sinking down into his blankets like a turtle trying to escape confrontation.

"You know, you really have to be more careful." Wash finished, stopping a little too late as he noticed the flash of anger in Tucker's eyes. 

"Right."

"...I didn't mean tha-"

"No Wash, you're completely right. The next time a giant fucking predator tries to rip out my collar bone with it's teeth, I'll be sure to ask it how it's day has been going. Offer it some real nice southern sweet tea. Marry it's fucking daughter."

"Look, I'm sorry, and I'm really glad you're okay."

Wash looked back up, but Tucker wouldn't meet his eyes, staring down at his sheets intently with an angry, burning look. 

"..Why weren't you here sooner?"

Wash shifted uncomfortably, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "There was a car that rolled on the side of the road. Traffic got really backed up. The people inside were okay, but they said that a big animal ran out and surprised them, like the one that attacked you."

"Maybe they should have been more careful."

"Tucker.."

They were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Through the window, Wash could see Doctor Grey make a sleeping gesture at Tucker. Then, she looked at him and smiled, slowly dragging her thumb across her neck threateningly. 

Wash shuddered.

"I..I have to go. But I am glad that you're doing okay now." He stared intently, but even after a few seconds, Tucker still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Right? Tucker?"

"Drive safe, Wash."

______________________________ 

It took the rest of the month before Tucker was allowed to return back to class, and as far as Wash was concerned, that meant hell.

Wash wasn't stupid. He could smell the wolf on Tucker the second he walked into the hospital room. However, with Tucker angry at him and refusing to answer his questions about the incident, Wash could only sit and hope, constructing worse case scenarios as he waited it out. 

Not only could Wash not fully concentrate on any of his classes, but he had also never realized the sheer amount of random chatter that Tucker made until it was all gone.

During lunch, him and Carolina ate in a mostly awkward silence, interrupted by only Church and Caboose's bickering, and the yelling of the kids sitting at the red table across from their own.

First, Carolina would startle Wash out of his thoughts with an awkward cough and a different variation of the exact same question every day.

"So...How's Tucker doing?" She would ask oh so casually, inbetween bites of her sandwich. 

"The same." Wash would answer, frowning as he contemplated his visits.

At first they were daily, but after about the fourth time Doctor Grey had to awkwardly tell him that Tucker said go away, Wash gave up and resorted instead to texting numerous apologies to Tucker.

From Wash: I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.  
From Wash: All I meant to do was offer you safety advice from the point of view of a friend.

From Tucker: sure, wash.  
From Tucker: speaking of which, remind me to grab a hard hat on my way out to meet Church for fucking taco Tuesdays next week

And so on.

By the time Tucker was actually cleared to be school ready, the moon was nearing it's full phase, and Wash had a lot more on his mind to worry about than trying to repair a complicated friendship.

"Tucker and I have fought before," He told himself while fixing his hair in the bathroom mirror one morning. "It's fine. He's going to come back to school, and annoy Caboose, and everything will be right back to normal again."

But it wasn't. The day Tucker was supposed to come back to school, Wash waited by his locker patiently up until the point the bell rang for class.

Confused, and a little annoyed, he jogged to his first class, slipping in past Doyle right before the teacher shut the door. 

"Settle down!" Doyle called, as Wash sat up next to Donut in the front row. Although Donut greeted him right away, Sarge shot Wash a suspicious look that made him tug at his collar nervously.

A werewolf's first full moon is blood waiting to spill. Within the adrenaline of gaining so many senses at once, it's hard for any young werewolf to distinguish hunting human from hunting any other animal.

Wash's first full moon went about the same as any other young werewolf without a pack who didn't know what was happening to them or their body:

Bad.

All he could remember from his first change was hours excruciating pain, a few flashes of pink, and then a shrill scream. 

In the morning Wash had woken up naked in the middle of the forest, with his hands caked with dried blood.

There was no sense denying the facts, next week at school Wash was horrified, yet somewhat unsurprised to see Donut's marred, but still smiling face.

Wash almost believed that he had gone crazy at first, dreamed up a vision to try and cope with the fact that he hurt an innocent guy.

However, by the time the second full moon rolled around, Wash found himself in control, and furiously trying to use his paws to type 'werewolf' into the Google search bar.

Not the worst night, but quite possibly the longest.

"Bother!" Wash's head snapped up as Doyle let out a cry, stumbling away from the door as it slammed opened without warning and hit him right in the face.

A few students stood, looking towards the teacher in confusion, but Wash's eyes were focused intently on the newcomer standing stiffly in the doorway.

A deep surprisingly deep voice sounded as he looked back behind the door, mouth twisting in disapproval. 

"...Unfortunate."

Doyle stumbled back up, using the tall boy's shoulders for support as he rubbed his nose, gesturing around to the class.

"Not at all my dear... student. Everybody, I would like to formally introduce to you-!"

"Locus." The boy said flatly, his gaze finally settling onto Wash.

"Fantastic!" Doyle said, beaming as he gestured for Locus to take the seat next to Wash.

The tall boy nodded, scanning the room once more, and as he took a step forward, Wash couldn't stop himself from sliding his seat back with a screech.

"David?" Doyle asked, his brows furrowing slightly.

But Wash couldn't answer. All he could do was concentrate on trying not to jump on the green eyes bearing down upon him, and the wall of scent that came just too close to the marks left on Tucker.

"Hello, David." Said the briefly red eyes in front of him.

"I have a feeling that this won't be the last time we'll be meeting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what you missed: me giggling like an idiot over 'wolfington'
> 
> up next: WHERE IS TUCKER


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shitlord: enter

Apparently trying to call in sick was pointless after missing school for weeks on end.

So yeah, Tucker was maybe just a bit late to class. Jogging down the main hallway just to slam the door open to Kimball's classroom wasn't his brightest idea, even if it had been on a day when he wasn't late.

"Tucker!" Kimball snapped, stopping short in the middle of her usual announcements to press an exasperated hand to her face. 

"You know you missed me." He replied, giving her a cheeky grin as his shuffled to his seat. However, once he got there, Tucker was stopped short by the sight of an unfamiliar kid sitting there texting.

"Uh..Hello?" He tried. The kid simply glanced at him and held up one finger, typing for a second before setting down his phone and leaning back. 

"What do you want." The new guy said flatly, looking him up and down. Tucker could have sworn he was checking him out if he hadn't sounded so bored while doing it.

"Look man, I don't want any trouble, but I don't think I've ever seen you in my life, and that's my seat you're sitting in."

"Tucker." Kimball crossed her arms, looking on the scene with growing annoyance.

"Just find another seat." The kid gave a noncommittal shrug and picked up his phone again. Tucker glanced at Grif to the side as if to ask, 'can you believe this guy?', but Grif, like usual in class, was already fast asleep. 

"Listen asshole,-" Tucker found himself fumbling for words when he felt a firm hand on his uninjured shoulder, but when he looked up into Kimball's death glare, he fell silent.

"Lavernius," She said, squeezing his shoulder harder when he tried to protest. "Since Felix here already volunteered to help out with our prom committee, why don't you join us all today after school?" 

"Woah woah, prom? Are you serious?? But that's..."

Kimball fixed him with another look and he let out a loud groan, pulling away from her to take the seat next to Caboose.

"Fiiiiiine, I'll show up for your lame committee as punishment or whatever." 

A small look of amusement passed over her features and she gave a nod of satisfaction, heading back to the board. "Continuing on..."

Tucker found himself zoning out quickly in favor of slapping away Caboose's not-so-subtle attempts to pass him notes, and watching birds enjoying their freedom through the window. 

"Psst. Tucker. Hey, Tucker-"

"The fuck do you want Simmons?" 

He turns in his seat to watch the redhead behind him gesturing insistently. Kimball wasn't stupid, and after the first three days of watching Grif and Simmons interact, she was very careful to keep them separated by no less than three or more seats at all times. 

"Dibs." 

"The fuck? Dibs on what?" Tucker's eyes narrowed, but he kept his voice low as Kimball continued to lecture on. 

"The new guy. Dibs. He's a red now."

"Does it look like I give a shit? Dude, you guys can have Caboose for all I care."

Simmons shook his head nervously, eyeing Caboose off to the side as the other doodled with crayons in his history textbook. 

"That won't be necessary. At all. I just figured since you guys are dirty blues and all, you would want this guy too. He seems like a badass."

"Yeah right. The only asses I need in my life belong to women. Bow chicka bow wow."

"That didn't even make any sense!"

"Whatever, dude."

Tucker was distracted by his phone lighting up on his desk, and he picked it up, eyeing the messages, (excluding the ones from Wash), curiously.

From Grif: Hey man, what are you and Simmons talking about.

From Tucker: what the fuck dude, how are you texting me  
Tucker: your head is down and one of your arms is hanging at your side

From Grif: Years of practice dude.

From Tucker: more like your phone is on the other side

From Grif: Yeah, that too. What did I miss?

From Tucker: new kid took my seat

From Grif: I thought you looked different than usual.

From Tucker: hey, fuck you man. he's a total prick too, good thing Simmons called him for you reds

From Grif: Look Tucker, the more people I can get to do my work for me, the better.

From Tucker: lazy-ass

From Grif: Whatever, man. New guy is staring at you BTW.

Tucker's head whipped up so fast it made Kimball glance over curiously. Indeed, he caught Felix staring at him for a split second before the other looked away.

A little smug, and intently curious, Tucker turned back to his phone. 

From Tucker: dude he so wants to bone me

From Grif: You're all talk, he's definitely straight.

Tucker: you used to say that about Simmons

...

No reply. 

By the time lunch rolled around, Tucker was about ready to snap his phone in half in frustration. Not only was his neck and shoulder still aching despite the pain meds, but now his joints and back were giving him trouble too. 

(Not to mention that despite Felix staring at him in the beginning, Tucker couldn't catch him at all later on. It was almost like he was meticulously trying to look aloof).

Almost everyone was already seated and eating at Blue table by the time he got there, taking the seat inbetween Church and Caboose instead of his normal spot. 

"Man, I fucking hate school lunches."

"We know, Tucker." Carolina shot him a sympathetic look, smiling some in amusement.

"Oh, would you stop your bitching and just tell us about it yet? Your freak..What was it, bear attack or something?" Church scowled and snapped his fingers, trying to remember.

Tucker blinked. "Dude, how the fuck should I know what that thing was?? You guys saw my hospital selfies. That thing fucked me UP."

He pulled down the collar of his shirt to show off his battle scars (bandages), but by this point no one was really impressed.

"YES....We are VERY glad to have Tucker back, despite the fact that he is a dirty best friend stealer." Caboose chimed in unhelpfully.

Tucker, annoyed, was just about to respond to that comment, when all of a sudden he spotted Wash walking in.

"..."

"Shit."

Their eyes met, and Tucker winced slightly, sinking back into his seat and setting down his sandwich with a long sigh. 

"Here comes lecture time."

Instead of seeing him march straight over however, Tucker was surprised to see Wash take a deep breath and steel himself before coming forwards and sitting. Church dropped his sandwich in disbelief. Carolina was staring.

"Uhh...Anything you wanna say, Wash?" Church prodded carefully. "Any shrieking fits to get out of your system?"

"No," Wash said defensively. "And I don't have shrieking fits. I'm just...Glad Tucker is back is all." 

Their eyes met again, and this time Tucker couldn't hide his bewilderment.

"Where is your lunch, Wash?" Caboose asked obliviously, crushing his bottle of water and drinking it within two seconds.

"I..guess I forgot to pack one." Wash gave a sheepish shrug, ignoring Church's slow headshake of disapproval.

It was quiet for a minute as everybody (except Wash) kept eating, but after a while, Tucker couldn't take it anymore.

"Here." He said, offering Wash one of his slices of pizza. "Take it."

"Tucker, I couldn't possibly-"

"Just take damn food already Wash." He let out a huff and waved it around until Wash carefully took the pizza and took a bite.

"Thank you." He said quietly, as Tucker just rolled his eyes in response. 

"Well, I guess I can't stay pissed at you forever. Especially since the new season of The Bachelorette is coming out, and you're going to need someone to watch it with."

"But I don't-!" Wash was silenced by Tucker's glare, and he gave a small smile, taking another bite of the pizza. 

"Of course."

"You two watch the Bachelor?" Carolina's voice could barely contain her laughter.

"The Bachlorette." Tucker stated defensively, trying to look nonchalant as he messed with the end of his plate. "Not that I pay attention to that girl shit."

"Obviously."

"Come on Wash," Tucker stood, giving a jerk of his head. "I'm gonna buy you some chips."

______________________________ 

By the time the end of the day rolled around, Tucker had almost forgotten about Kimball's cruel and unusual punishment. However, after walking by her classroom it all came back in a rush and he shouldered his bag, stepping inside.

"Hey." He greeted, raising his hand. Felix glanced up at him from Tucker's old seat and opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a boy stepping out in front of him with an Oscar-worthy smile.

"Tucker!!" Donut gave a wave, clasping his hands together. "I didn't know you were into this sort of thing! Oh boy, I can't believe I have two boys to help me fill these hard positions."

Tucker couldn't help but laugh at Felix's confused expression, walking over to offer Donut a high five. 

"Bow chicka bow wow, dude. Maybe this will be fun after all."

Donut accepted the high five and nodded. "Well of course it will! So, who's in charge?"

"That would be me." Felix stood up with a smile, walking up to the front of the room.

"Haha. Sucks to be you." Tucker shot him a grin and sat down in his old seat, kicking his feet up onto the desk.

"Yeah, well. A job's a job. Your teacher Kimball promised me extra credit over this shit." Felix gave another smile, which Tucker found himself inexplicably returning.

"Woah woah, you're saying she gives out extra credit for this??"

Felix gave Tucker a shrug as he started to erase the things already on the board. 

"Guess so."

"Fucking awesome."

Tucker shifted some, watching as Kimball walked in and patted Felix's shoulder absentmindedly. 

"Already at work? Good job boys."

Felix gave a thumbs up and Donut gave an exaggerated nod, sitting on one of the desks. 

Tucker just gave a shrug, looking up at where Kimball was leaning over, writing 'P R O M' in big letters on the board. 

"I have a feeling," she said, as she stepped back. "That this is going to be a really good one."

Looking back at both Donut's and Felix's confident smiles, Tucker found himself reluctantly agreeing as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> points to whoever can guess to whom and what Felix was texting B)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you thought sarge was a student? pls

Felix was, horrifyingly enough, not as big of a total fucking prick as Tucker had initially pegged him to be.

Sure, the guy was a handful. Actually, a total asshole at heart. Cocky, rude, and worst of all: He never let Tucker get a word in edgewise when it came to debating the semantics of prom.

"Tucker. For the last time, we are not hiring strippers."

Throwing up his hands in the air, Tucker fixed the other guy with an incredulous look.

"Aw, seriously? Come on! Most dudes at this school haven't tapped anything in their life. Besides, who nominated you to lead this shit committee?"

"Well, now that you mention it- Kimball did." Felix gave out a smug smile, flopping back down into a rolly chair and wheeling it over to Tucker. It was only the third meeting of 'Chorus Prom Committee' (one week after Tucker's return) and already they were down to two members. Apparently Donut had obtained the horrific stomach virus spreading around the school like an epidemic. Kimball, on the other hand-

Well.

It all started in Doyle's classroom during the last period of the day.

"I must say, I am frankly shocked- no , _outraged_ , that you could ever say such a thing!" Doyle had exclaimed, slamming a cup of tea down quite fiercely onto his mahogany desk.

Doyle and Kimball were known for their legendary, and very frequent history debates. In fact, this particular one had spurred simply from her stopping by during his class to grab something off of the printer.

Her own students knew exactly what had gone down. Most just left the class when she didn't return, but Tucker, in an off period and eager to show Felix the ins and outs of the school, dragged him out of his last class of the day just to go watch.

"Do you defy logic Miss Kimball? Columbus was only following orders when he extracted natural resources from the New World!"

Kimball responded gritting her teeth, staring him down with a cold expression that was making some of Doyle's remaining students in the room nervous. Most of them had ollied out the second that the argument began, but that didn't stop a few stragglers from staying. After all, the drill was practically routine by now.

Tucker got a kick out of Felix snickering every time Kimball viciously debunked Doyle's history teachings. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes the other teacher found himself getting so red, his freckles were almost completely smothered by the pink. Frankly, it reminded Tucker of Wash after-

Oh right.

...

Wash.

The only students who had come to Doyle's room to watch the debate were Wash, Lopez, and some huge new guy sitting in the corner. Technically, school had already gotten out, but Tucker wouldn't miss the opportunity to impart crucial knowledge onto his favorite new douchebag in the world.

He looked back at Felix, but the new kid was already far too engrossed in the debate, staring at the argument as if he was a kid on Christmas morning. Tucker glanced at the other new kid, Doyle's student who sat stiffly at the back of the room, but the dude's green eyes were, surprisingly enough, trained with great intent on the back of Wash's head.

The new kid's hair was long, long enough to fit into a small bun at the nape of his neck. He was also, Tucker noted with his usual level of thirst, super fucking jacked. However, his face looked way too fucking serious for his age, and it was subsequently, completely weirding Tucker out. Shaking his head some, he tried to block the face from his head, returning his attention back the one and only spectacle to behold: the debate.

"-And another thing, the monarchs never told Columbus to let his men abuse the native population!" Kimball snapped, slamming her hand down hard onto the nearest desk.

At least they were learning something.

Wash was watching him when he glanced over, and Tucker raised his hand in an exaggerated salute. Sadly, all he got for his trouble was a roll of Wash's eyes. Frankly, the other looked pretty tense, but then again Wash had looked tense ever since Tucker got back, so it was questionable.

(He had already made a note to text Wash about it later, anyways).

For a second, Tucker considered asking him if he wanted to join Prom Committee, but he quickly expelled the idea from his head. Wash would probably rather study, and besides, Tucker himself was already way too busy with schoolwork.

Honestly, the best option was to keep the member list down to two and a half (the half was sick Donut) just so that they wouldn't have to debate with anyone else. God knows that prom would be a mess if he got more of both the Reds and blues involved.

A motion from the doorway caught his attention, and Felix raised an eyebrow in his direction, jerking his head towards the hallway in a wordless question that Tucker could already decipher. Time to go?

Tucker simply gave a nod back along with a thumbs up, scooping up the strap of his bag and sliding out of his seat. Felix moved out of the doorway to start walking down the hallway, leaving Tucker to jog after him in his wake. For some reason, he was almost getting a little eager for these meetings. Probably because any excuse to sit in Kimball's room and not do work was the best. In the world.

"So, what kinds of exciting girl shit are we gonna do today Felix?"

The other boy rolled his eyes, glancing back with an expression full f snark on his face.

"Tone down the sarcasm, idiot. Besides, how the fuck should I know? Usually I just go with what Kimball tells us."

"Wait, seriously? You do? Talk about a snooze fest dude, this is such fucking bullshit. Why do you get to be the leader anyways?"

"Because. I asked."

Felix laughed as Tucker made an incredulous noise, slowing down so that he could knock shoulders with him roughly.

"Fucking. Bullshit, dude. Do we even have a club meeting today?"

Now Felix shrugged, turning his head to the side to glance out the windows as the two made their way down the empty halls. Nestled into the hair curled behind the his ear, on the non-shaved side of his head, Tucker could just barely catch a glimpse of a few piercings he hadn't seen before.

"Earrings? Seriously, man? You're the walking grunge stereotype." Felix stopped where he stood and stepped back to give him an angry look. "You do realize that if you pierce only the right side it means you're hella gay," he went on. "Right?"

"There _is_ no gay side, loser."

Tucker gave a little noise of protest at the sharp, irritated jab to his side that accompanied the words, snickering quietly.

"...Besides," Felix continued after a moment. Both of my ears are pierced. Not just the right one."

"But you have three on your right, yeah? Which leaves you with only one-"

Felix jabbed him again and he gave up and went silent, wrapping his arms around himself for protection as he shot the other a dirty look.

"You're a real cockbite, aren't you..uh."

"...What?"

"..Dude, I totally just forgot your last name."

Tucker ignored the incredulous look he received.

"Did you or did you not hear it on the first day of class Tucker? I honestly don't understand how you've made it this far in your academic career."

"...Whatever, dude. That's not the only thing that's been long in my life, if you know what I mean. Bow chicka bow- _HRK_!"

He doubled over with a wheeze at the sudden karate chop to his stomach, stumbling slightly and looking down at his shoes.

"Ow- what the fuck?! What are you, some kind of ninja?"

"Something like that." Felix smirked smugly, crossing his arms loosely and reaching up to twirl the hair near his ear. "Did you do your essay for the screaming gym teacher yet? The one who likes to 'sit in' on classes and 'monitor' the kids because he's fucking insane?"

"Hey man, don't rag on Sarge." Tucker straightened up, putting his hands on his hips and twisting his back both ways to crack his spine.

"I mean, yeah he is pretty fucking insane, but he also usually lets us just fuck around in class. Besides, I was gonna ask if I could copy off of you. He hates me, but maybe if it's decent he'll focus on destroying Grif."

Felix gave a snort at that.

"I may consider allowing you to borrow a large few choice sections of the essay I have absolutely started...As long as you repay me with something of equal worth."

"What, like ten bucks?"

Tucker could see the other's eyes flash a little as he considered the offer, but he shook his head starting to walk again.

"No. Tell me about all of the school gossip going on at this shitty school. All of it. Including the parts with your friends."

"Uh, and why should I do that?" Tucker squinted as he followed.

"Because otherwise you're just going to have to get used to seeing the note 'Failed P.E.' on your college applications, dumbass."

Tucker, try as he might as he pushed out the front school doors, couldn't help but consider that an extremely valid reason.

The sun has already been setting for a little while now, and the sky was tinged pink. A few clouds hung overhead, but mostly it was still not completely autumn, holding a breeze, but also an undeniable warmth in the thick air.

"Hey. Hey!"

Tucker blinked back into attention as Felix snapped his fingers in front of his face.

"What?"

"You should just let me come over while I write the essay. We might not have time during club meetings."

He gave Felix a skeptical look. Logically, there was probably enough time during those club meetings to kill two men. However, if he didn't say yes, Felix would get all huffy and bitchy like a cat and..

Eh. What the hell.

"Sure, whatever. But I'm pretty sure all we have for dinner are poptarts and shit."

Looking not the least bit grateful, Felix gave a relenting shrug. "Any food is good as long as it's edible."

"You're a picky eater you liar, aren't you?"

"Hey, that's-" Tucker cut him off with his laughter and began walking. Felix followed, carrying a slight angry flush on his face.

"I never said that! Oh..you are so paying for that comment later."

He kicked a rock as they passed by, eyeing the grassy hill it tumbled down, into forest bushes.  
  
Watching it go, Tucker contemplated. Everything about the trees and the wildlife looked just the same as before, but somehow it all seemed more inviting to Tucker now.

"Do you think it's still out there?" He squinted into the underbrush.

Felix's head snapped up as Tucker spoke, eyes flicking to the bandages peeking out from his collar.

"That vicious _thing_ that attacked you. You think it would hang around?"

He shrugged uncomfortably, hand creeping up to rub at the bandages anyways, a nervous habit.

"Probably. I guess I just hope it gets the fuck out of dodge sooner than later."

Felix gave a quick nod, shaking his head in disgust and agreement.

"Crazy animals are a fucking menace." He muttered, letting out a slow sigh as they took a fork in the road.

"You got that right."

Tucker found himself breathing a little heavier as they drew closer, his eyes from flicking to the spot in the bushes where it jumped on him and-

_Pain. Sudden, agonizing pain._

_Tucker yells and it comes out hoarse and torn. His throat cracks, but the soreness is a paper cut compared to the agony his collar and his side is feeling._

_He tries to reach up a hand to clutch onto the aforementioned wound and immediately almost passes out. Somewhere nearby he can hear voices, probably called out by the sound of his yelling._

_He calls out again, terrified that they will simply leave him on the side of the road. The image almost makes him sob. Maybe he does. Everything in his body is going numb from the shock._

_The voices draw closer, and Tucker's already limited vision drops even further as he grows tired. By this point, he can't feel any of the pain anymore, which would heavy concern him if he wasn't so damn relieved by it._

_A bright light shines in his face. A gasp. Then it all fades away._

_Smears of colors blot the world as Tucker is rushed by on a gurney, fading in and out and in and..._

"Tucker!"

He swears at the pinch to his arm, pulling it up to rub at it and glare. Felix is standing in front of him, hands held out in front of him and giving his most concerned scowl. It softens slightly, probably at his expression, and Tucker immediately feels like a total asshole for zoning out.

  
"Sorry, my bad, yeah. It happened over there." Tucker points, and he's a little glad to be free of Felix's intense gaze when the other boy turns to look at it. The latter eyed the scene for a few seconds before seeming to realize what it was, letting out a low whistle.

"Are those scratch marks in that rock? Damn, that thing really fucked you up."

Tucker finds himself agreeing as they walk on, but his mind is preoccupied by the scratches on the rock. HE might have missed them before, but surely the police didn't. At this point, Tucker wasn't sure if he could ever look at dogs the same way again.

"Is that your place up there?" Felix promoted, jerking his chin up at the direction of the small house they were steadily approaching. "Can't believe your parents let you walk home after that shit."

He sounded a little angry in the remark, but Tucker only blinked in surprise, shrugging. "Mom's busy. Junior's the only one you'd like to meet."

"Junior?"

"Yeah, my little brother. If he approves of you, you can spend the night."

Tucker has to grin at Felix's sudden air of determination.

"He has to?"

"Course man, Junior runs our house."

Felix scoffs.

"Kids love me."

"Sure they do. That doesn't sound fake at all."

Felix paused, shaking his head once in disgust before glaring at Tucker.

"Snot nosed brats."

"Pretty convincing, dude."

He snickered at Felix's widening scowl, tugging open the door for himself. Tucker pushes it further open for the other as he walks in, dropping the bag he had previously hoisted on his good shoulder off at the door.

"Anyone home?" He called, slowly toeing out of his shoes. To his side, Felix decidedly sat on the cramped wooden staircase, slowly beginning to unlace his ridiculous scene kid boots. Tucker had to put in considerable effort to contain his snigger.

What an emo douchebag.

Sure enough though, Junior quickly skidded out of the kitchen, running at his maximum 6 year old hyperdrive to Tucker until he noticed Felix and slowed.

"Hey, it's okay dude. This is Felix, he's pretty cool. Not as fuckin' cool as you of course, but he's alright."

Felix cast Tucker an offended huff before glancing back at Junior, primarily in bewilderment as the latter began to sign shyly up at Tucker.

After a few seconds, without hesitation, Tucker nodded and shrugged back at Junior, reaching over to give him a fist bump.

"Yeah, Felix in my grade, don't worry. He's just a fucking string bean."

"Oh you're one to talk!" Felix snapped, glowering. His mood darkened slightly at Tucker's laugh, but quickly just turned into straight confusion as Junior began to approach him slowly.

"Hey there..Little. Uh. Lavernius?" He tried tentatively, while Tucker vehemently shook his head at him, making ominous motions with his hands.

"What?!" Felix peered down as Junior crouched on the bottom step as the kid raised up on his legs like haunches.

"Junior, no!" Tucker shouted out without warning, wrapping his arms around the kid's midsection just as he had begun pounce in Felix's direction. Junior only gave him the largest grin, breath pouring out in silent, unstoppable giggles of laughter.

Felix went rigid, tensing up and giving Tucker a confused look as he held out one of his previously shed boots in front of himself in order to ensure protection.

"What the hell was that?!"

Struggling to keep hold of a joyous squirming Junior, Tucker set him down and shooed him off to the side, towards the living room.

"Sorry man, it's a thing. He usually just likes to bite some new guests."

"Bite?"

"Yeah."

"...Some?"

"...Okay, most. Pretty much everyone, except for Wash." Tucker leaned on the banister as he reflected, grinning fondly at the memory. "I warned him in advance and he was ready and everything. He gets to my house and Junior just walks right up and waves. Nothing else. It was the biggest plot twist. Of all time. "

"So he failed the test?"

Tucker shrugs.

"Sort of. I guess I never thought of it that way. It just seemed right."

"Uh huh. Any other competition for your kid brother's affection I need to be aware of?"

"Church was totally Junior's teething ring throughout seventh grade. At first he yelled a lot, but it was hella cute."

"I was being sarcastic." Felix scoffed, standing as he continued talking.

"I can't believe your ridiculous friends haven't even trained you how to recognize that."

"Mm, that doesn't sound very much like a guy begging me to bring him food." Tucker grinned and then shrugged, pointing upstairs.

"First door on the left. I'll bring dinner up. Don't fuck with my things."

"Oh, Tucker. You say it like that's going to stop me."

Throwing him a smarmy, malicious smirk, Felix took his time setting the shoes aside before he finally decided to slink up the stairs. Only Tucker's quickly outstretched arm prevented Junior from darting past him after the boy.

"Hell no you don't!"

He let out a groan at Junior's little subsequent hiss, scooping him up to carry to the kitchen like a petulant cat.

"Ugh..Fine. You can come up with me, but no biting, got it? Now let's see if we have food.."

Tucker sat Junior down in a chair as he began grabbing bread from a bag near the sink, squeezing out processed butter on it and putting it in the toaster.

"Grilled cheese sound good? Kids like that shit, right?" Junior nodded eagerly.

"Right, yeah. So I totally lied, I'm gonna need you to keep out of my room."

Seeing the other's upset expression, Tucker waved his hands frantically, backtracking.

"Just for tonight, dude! Don't look at me like that. It just-...wigs my friends out sometimes when you're right there, okay? I'll make it up to you sometime."

Junior nodded, albeit reluctantly as Tucker poured out a glass of milk and set it in front of him. He ruffled the fuzz on the top of his head, making Junior crack a tiny little smile and squirm away.

"Fuck yeah. Best brother. How was school today?"  
  
Junior practically beamed at him, making a few obscure, gestures and a thumbs up.

"Good for you, little dude."

Tucker smiled, crossing his arms.

"What color of bendy straw do you want?"

Junior held up a 'B' in his hand, and Tucker gave a proud grin, sticking a blue one into the glass.

"Don't make too many bubbles." He warned-  
and then felt instant regret as Junior did just that, sending milk overflowing all around the glass.

"Fuck!" Tucker swore, grabbing the whole roll of paper towels and messily unrolling it onto the table.

Almost on cue, the toaster dinged.

Junior straightened up and made grabby hands at him, and Tucker quickly grabbed a plate, slapping the two grilled cheese pieces together and sliding it in front of the other.

"Coming in hot!"

Junior took a bite anyways, despite the warning, and gave a whine. Tucker just snorted, moving back to the fridge and pulling out a pizza box.

"Okay, well. TV really is the best medicine and all that shit. Just let mom know we have company when she gets home, yeah? And that we're both busy. Haha, oh man, that sounds all kindeed of nasty!"

Giving one last nod to Junior, Tucker grinned at his own joke before checking his hair in the hallway mirror, starting to saunter up the stairs after Felix.

"Knock if you need anything." Tucker called finally to Junior, dramatically opening his door and slamming it shut as he walked in.

Tucker had imagined numerous scenarios of Felix wrecking his room and rummaging through his stuff. Instead, Felix was just lying upside down on the edge of his bed, looking bored as he could possibly be while he texted.

"It only took two minutes for me to find your porn stash," He said, idly erasing a message without looking up.

"Dude."

"Idiot." He replies simply.

"Also, I took the time to pencil in my birthday on your calendar. Buy me something nice."

Tucker just scoffed, pulling off a ponytail band from his wrist and shooting it at him.

"Yeah right, man. Do you just not know how people enjoy being spoken to or something? Usually you don't just like, demand things."

Felix, having dodged the ponytail, shot him a small smirk.

"Well I think it sounds like _you_ don't understand people at all, _Lavernius_." He teased, setting down his phone. Tucker scowled.

"Whatever, weirdo. Lets just get started, yeah? You can type the essay out on my laptop."

Tucker ignored the other's over dramatic sigh as he sat down next to him, reaching over and pulling his laptop. off of his desk. Almost immediately, he opened it to just one of the many nasty sites he frequented.

"Dude!!"

"Told you." Felix snickered.

"You're such a fucking tool."

Exiting out of the site, Tucker made sure to clear his browser history (twice) before handing the laptop back to Felix.

"You know this thing is full of viruses, right," Felix pointed out as he accepted it. "What kind of websi- oh."

"..."

"...Right."

Felix tugged at his collar and cleared his throat, ignoring the sudden death glare attempting to sear a hole through him.

"So you promised me intel for this, yeah? What kind of shit can you deliver."

"What, you mean like gossip?" Tucker asked, glancing at him curiously.

Felix nodded without looking up, starting to slowly tap out the opener to the essay on the keyboard.

"Well..For starters, Grif and Simmons are in love. Not even just fucking- I'm talking like the really mushy-gushy, icky stuff. And Wash and Carolina used to go to the same military school."

"Why did they come here?"

Tucker furrowed his brow.

"..I think there was like, a fire or something? They were both pretty fucked up about it by the time they got here, but after like the fifth fight they got into, and the second school suspension, they kind of cooled off."

"Who did they fight?"

Felix had the laptop in his lap now, legs criss crossed as he ignored the strand of hair dangling in his face, brow furrowing.

Tucker did his best to ignore the vivid image and shrugged, leaning back onto the palms of his hands.

"I think maybe Church got the worst of it? All of us bickered at some point or another. I guess that whole, 'enemy to friend' thing isn't always just pure bullshit after all."

He threw a blatant glance at Felix, but again the boy looked uninterested, only nodding slightly as he typed.

"Donut has the biggest crush ever on the school nurse. He's not even a real doctor, but everyone just calls him Doc cause he's the closest we got. And annoying as fuck."

"Mm."

"Dude, I'm doing this for you!"

"Tucker I'm _listening!_ " Felix protested, clinging to the laptop with an iron grip and glaring at Tucker as he tried to pull it away.

"Just _continue_  for Christ's sake."

"Well what the fuck do you want to know?"

"Anything. Junior. You. Anything. Come on."

"Ughh..fine." Tucker grumbled, flopping back onto his bed.

"I mean," His tone changed a little.

"Not that I can't blame you for wanting to know about all of thiiiis.."

He stretched out the last word, running his hands down his sides and giving a little shimmy. Felix groaned.

"The only thing I want is that disgustingly greasy cardboard pizza you brought up here shoved down into my stomach as soon as possible."

"It's free game, man. Just leave a couple pineapple slices."

"Pineapple." Felix's voice practically bled 'are you fucking kidding me'.

"Yeah man. The good stuff."

"Of course you of all people would find a way to ruin a classic by adding a sick topping on it. What's next, anchovies?"

"Just pick them off, you baby." Tucker rolled his eyes, reaching over to scoop up a piece on his hand to munch on while he watched the other.

Felix's nose scrunched up as he eyed the pineapple part of the pizza, grabbing a slice of cheese instead.

"I hope you know I'm only doing this for personal gain. You're not getting your seat back."

"Uh, dude. It's been like an entire fucking week. Besides, if I really wanted that seat, I'd just get Caboose to move you for me."

"What, he really does whatever you tell him to?"

"...Well, no. But the idiot's totally head over heels for Church, so I bet I could get his help."

"That's surprisingly resourceful of you, Tucker."

Felix finished up his slice of pizza and set his chin in his hand, squinting up as he appraised Tucker. The other just shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

"Yeah, well. Church doesn't need more ego stroking, but at least it keeps Caboose sedated."

"Uhuh."

"Have you finished that essay yet?"

"Almost. Which does Sarge hate more, eco-conservation, or that one fat guy who sits next to me in history?"

"Grif. Definitely. If you write something about killing him It'll be an A for sure- but like make it real subtle, cause me and him are cool."

"Aye aye, captain." Felix droned, typing out the finishing touches with a flourish before emailing it straight to Sarge.

"Nice."

"You're welcome."

"I'm not thanking you for that, dude. I saw you title that paper 'Tucker sucks dick' from the second you opened Google docs."

Felix laughed, placing his hands behind his head and leaning back.

"What can I say? I'm a modern day genius."

"Whatever, dude. Are you staying here tonight?"

"You act like I want to spend more time than I have to with you." Felix snorted.

"Meh, your loss."

With a long shrug, Tucker gestured towards the door.

"Good luck getting home and all that shit. Honestly I'd probably offer to walk you home, but fuuuuck that! Just don't let Junior bite you on the way out."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. I guess I'll see you and the rest of the losers on Wednesday in class."

"Don't kiss too many mirrors Felix- you'll give yourself herpes."

"Ha ha." The other boy said flatly, leveling a glare at him as he swung his legs off the side of the bed and began to walk out.

"Don't text me unless it's about club meetings."

"Sure." Tucker agreed, already pulling out his phone to text.

"No problem."

______________________________

Wash had detective work to do.

See, it all started with those pair of green eyes that had sauntered into his territory, into his room. The room in his town, with his people, and his best friend Tucker.

Tucker, who still couldn't lift his arm all the way up, and had the tiniest bit of discolored skin creeping out under the collar of his bandage. All because of Locus. It took everything Wash had had at the beginning of day one to sit back down in his chair and not immediately tear Locus's throat out.

His anger was immense, it was the size of the moon, even after a week of repressing it, Tucker had still left to go home without him.

That stung. That made Wash a little more than irritated. Why couldn't Tucker just accept that it had always been safer with Wash around than without (even though he couldn't possibly be aware of the reason why)?

In his mind, Locus held the guilt for everything. Typically, Wash preferred to believe that he was acting, at least within the group of the reds and blues, as the voice of reason. However, after waiting a few minutes in Doyle's class that day for Tucker to leave, he also shouldered his bag and briskly headed out.

It was a wordless ploy. A goad of sorts. Wash walked at a slow pace, trudging down the halls in a warriors match. He subtly glanced over his shoulder, but only once, just to see Locus's large form following him down the quiet hall, as he had previously intended.

Wash slipped into the dimly lit men's bathroom without hesitation and tossed his bag to the side while he waited. By the time Locus walked in, and looked up, he had clenched both of his fists, and fixed his best glare onto the other boy.

"Washington," Locus remarked warily, having now caught onto the fact that 'David' was off limits. "We need to talk."

Wash gave a little laugh, rolling his shoulders as Locus slid his backpack off of his shoulders and onto the ground.

"Right, right. 'Talk'. What the hell could you even have to say to me?" His voice raised in pitch as he bristled with anger.

"I don't-"

"Did you even take notice of who you attacked? Did you see his bandages earlier, before he shuffled out of the classroom? The way he wore his backpack, on the wrong shoulder than usual? That's. Because. Of _you_."

Locus cleared his throat.

"Washington. I know that you already may believe myself to be some sort of monster, but you are sorely mistaken if you think that-"

"Mistaken."

A low growl had built itself in Wash's throat as he eyed Locus, eyes flashing red.

"You're wrong. I know what went down. You attacked an innocent civilian out of bloodlust- that's practically the definition of a monster. And now you're going to have to pay the consequences for your actions."

"Stop acting so melodramatic." Locus growled back, a deep rumble in his chest.

"And do not. Call me that. I didn't directly attack your companion."

"You're lying. I could smell it on him!"

"I was not aware that he was already...connected with a pack of some form."  
  
Wash's voice began to raise into a hysterical pitch as he stepped forwards, completely failing to calm himself.

"So that makes it okay, right? Tearing my companions, my...friends..to shreds?"

"Fear for them is making you weak, Washington."

With a loud snarl, Wash crouched down, ready to spring. However, at the last second, the door to the bathroom slammed opened, and a familiar looking face sauntered in.

"Oh. Hey." Church said boredly, giving a slight nod in Locus's direction before raising an eyebrow at the still-tense boy staring him down.

"Something on your mind, Wash?"

"No, Epsilon. We're leaving." He grit out after a long second, grabbing his bag and pulling a protesting Church past an annoyed looking Locus.

Once they had exited the bathroom, Church pulled himself free, giving Wash a look of disbelief as he continued to trudge down the hallway.

"Wash. Wash! Come on..first of all, stop using my middle name. Second, what the actual fuck has all of your bees in a metaphorical bonnet?"

"Epsilon, I-"

"Church."

"...Church. I know you're confused right now, but this really isn't any of your business."

The other boy gave Wash an incredulous look, waving his arms around.

"Of course it is! Do you know how many people ask me for information in this school?"

"Zero?"

"...I mean, yeah. But I'm curious, okay? And you and I, I mean. We are pretty close, right? Even after.."

He blanched a little as Wash tensed up.

"Yeah, we're done talking here." Wash tried to continue on walking, but Church ran in front of him, blocking his way. Wash tried to sidestep him, but every time he would move to continue barring the way.

"Stop doing that!" He commanded, but Church only moved faster, sticking his arms out for extra blockage.

"No, Wash. I know what this is about. This is one of you and Carolina's weird boarding school things, isn't it."

"No, it's not."

Church scoffed. "You're shit at lying. And-" He looked around quickly, before leaning in.

"The full moon wasn't that long ago."

Wash stared at him with wide eyes, mouth opening aimlessly for a second before he straightened up, clenching his fists.

"How do you of all people know about that?!"

"Because of Tex!" Church shouted back, crossing his arms.

"..Look, before she... barked her last, she told me a lot of shit. They did things to you at that place, I'm not stupid. I don't know everything. But what I _do_ know is that both you and Carolina have a tendency not to ask for help when you need it. If this is a wolf thing, you _need_ to talk to her. She and I have been trying to figure out what the attack on Tucker meant for weeks, but we can't-"

"Weeks?"

Church found himself cut off by the tiny interjection, as Wash stared up at him, quickly going completely and utterly numb.

"You've been discussing what happened to him for...weeks. Without me? And she knew- about you?"

"...Wash, buddy..It's not that simple."

"So you didn't go behind my back. Discuss any of these matters without me."

"You would have done the same!" Church protested, reaching up to run a hand through his messily disgruntled hair.

"No. I wouldn't have."

Wash stepped to the side, and this time Church was too busy sputtering to stop him from walking on by.

"You need to talk to her!" He shouted, but Wash didn't stop, and this time, Church didn't run to stop him.

Walking quickly down the halls, Wash was so angry he could feel his pulse in his ears, the flush in his cheeks as he kicked open one of the front doors and slid down the rail to the parking lot.

He jogged past all of the cars, instead running to the edge of the forest, before sprinting in. As he ran, the change took over his body, twisting the shape of his bones and skin to make an ideal picture in out of his sinew.

Gray fur sprang from most of his pores, claws split from his hands, which twisted into paws, and it was over in a second- completed before his feet even touched the ground again.

His head throbbed, mind swarming with a cluster of panic and betrayal as he let out a small howl. Wash angrily struck his claws against the nearest tree, taking extreme satisfaction in the large chunks of bark flying off. He did it again before sitting back, panting.

Now that he was beginning to calm down from the run, Wash found himself suddenly regretting his spontaneous transformation, eyeing the tattered remains of his shirt and dirty pants on the ground with distaste.

His bag, having ended up flinging next to the tree he had mauled, sent out a chiming sound into the barren forest, startling Wash enough to make him jump. In his wolf form, things like text messages often took a few seconds to compute.

With one unhappy bark he changed back, making it his first priority to pull on the somewhat unharmed bits of his clothes, before walking to his bag and pulling out his phone.

From Carolina: Wash.

From Carolina: We need to talk.

He inhaled sharply, setting the phone down and taking a few deep breaths. About a minute later, it made the same chiming noise as before.

From Unknown: Wash, David, whatever the fuck your name is.

From Unknown: I know what you are. back the fuck off or everybody else is also going to know.

His brow instantly furrowed.

From Wash: Who. Are. You.

From Unknown: Cute. It's like you expect me to answer that.

From Wash: Locus?

From Unknown: you'll stay away from him if you know what's good for you. otherwise, i'll show your secret to everyone.

From Wash: Yeah, right.

From Unknown: let me rephrase. keep off of Locus, or i'll break every single one of your little 'friends'.

From Wash: You're bluffing.

From Unknown: hah. you want proof?

From Unknown: knock yourself out.

Wash couldn't help the shout of upset that escaped him when he saw the photo. Couldn't help but clench his fist white and anger, trying to delete the feeling of his sickness as he dry heaved on the nearest tree.

A picture of a limp Tucker, just after the attack, stared up at him. Wash gave a vicious swear as he inspected the photo closer, taking note of all of the blood at his side and on his collar, staining the front of his shirt.

Wash sent angry threat after threat to no reply, writing nastier and angrier responses until his hands were shaking too bad to hit the send button on the first try. He felt on the brink of a panic attack, and his stomach rolled as he took his time exiting out of that chat screen for another.

"Who the hell would..I can't.."

He sank down to his knees and dug a hand roughly into the loose dirt, squeezing as he let the thumb of his free hand dance all over his phone screen.

From Wash: -

From Carolina: Wash? Are you okay?

From Wash: South forest.

From Carolina: I'll be there immediately.

From Wash: Please.

From Carolina: Wash, I'm...sorry that neither of us told you. We just figured that you already had enough on your mind.

From Carolina: I know you're tired of people keeping things from you, and I promise, I'm going to try my best not to do it again.

From Carolina: ...Wash?

From Carolina: Are you okay??

From Carolina: Stay right where you are.

From Carolina: I'm not going to lose you.

Somewhere across the forest, a girl was tossing her phone to the side, and starting to run. Miles from that, a silent figure pocketed their phone with a smirk, savoring the quick buzzes which had slowly begun to taper off.

And finally, on the south side of the forest by the school, a phone fell down to the ground, and a tightly curled body curled in even tighter on itself; preparing painfully, as many times before, for someone, who had promised to help.

Even if nobody ever came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry guys.. me torturing my faves right before christmas B)
> 
> I'm going to be a lot more free in the upcoming months, so keep an eye out for longer chapter updates! this update alone, i believe, surpassed the word count on all of the first three chapters combined.
> 
> hope you enjoyed, and happy holidays!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> did i mention that this story reads like 100x better on mobile?
> 
> ...ah.
> 
> well now you know.

  
Carolina had never expected to care about Wash as much as she had in the end.  
  
When she had first met him, he seemed as innocent as a kitten- all torn-up jeans and bleached hair, peeking out from under his ever-present beanie.  
  
York took to him immediately, pulling the reluctant kid over to their lunch table with his signature grin, bursting with gold braces.  
  
"North! Check this kid out," Carolina clearly remembers him yelling, pulling Wash onto the bench as he himself slid in next to a scowling South Dakota.  
  
"What did you do this time?" North asked with a sigh. Still, it was easy to pick out the amusement within his voice.

"This is David-"  
  
"No!" Wash blurted out.  
  
He immediately looked embarrassed, sinking lower in his seat to hide from the pairs of eyes which followed his outburst.  
  
"..."  
  
"I mean, everybody goes by last names anyways, so..Washington I guess?"  
  
While he mumbled something about weird school nicknames, South eyed him with a glare, just starting to open her mouth to snap at him.  
  
Carolina quickly cleared her throat to cut her off, turning everyone's attention to her.  
  
"Washington? Isn't that a little long for an everyday name?"  
  
"Wash, then," York suggested. "How do you like that, Rookie?"  
  
Wash looked up for the first time, giving everyone the same confused expression. Carolina felt Maine stiffen next to her, surely feeling the same thing that they all were.  
  
This kid was adorable without even trying. She felt York's eyes on her- and then North's, begging, pleading a silent question:  _Can we keep him?_  
  
"I think that would be okay." Wash said suddenly, revealing a flash of shockingly white teeth as he gave a little grin.  
  
And that sealed the deal. From then on, Wash was one of them. Whenever anybody gave him funny looks, they had Maine's cold stare to look at. And whenever a snide word was exchanged concerning him, CT had a constant barrage of biting remarks to fire back.  
  
But then the real fire came. At night, in the dorms, when everyone was sleeping.  
  
Carolina most clearly remembers South screaming at Connie while the other tried to build a blanket rope to climb down. The fire had already spread down the hallway at that point, and there was no other way for CT to get out.  
  
Jumping out of her bed, she searched for her roommate, but found no sign. Spewing some nasty words about Tex, she ran out of her room and grabbed South's arm, pulling her away from Connie's room and the fire- despite her protests.  
  
"You fucking bitch!" She shrieked, but to Carolina it was just background noise. Her main priority was to find the others, and get out alive.  
  
She tugged South down the hallway up until the point where the other yanked her arm away. Even then, Carolina continued on running, all the way through four hallways to reach the men's dorms.  
  
"York!" She yelled, fervently knocking on his door. The fire was spreading faster here, and behind her, South swore.  
  
The door opened and York walked out trying to simultaneously cough and yawn.  
  
"Why is everything so- ooooooooh my God. NORTH!"  
  
His eyes opened almost comically wide as he saw the fire, sprinting back inside to shake the other boy awake.  
  
A few burning beams fell from the ceiling, and blocked off the rest of the hallway with a loud crash.  
  
York and North both ran out of the room, the former swearing up a storm. Down the hall, a door opened.  
  
Out stumbled Wash, coughing from all of the fumes. He looked up in horror, first meeting Carolina's eyes, and then the burning wreckage between them.  
  
"Guys, I'm over here!!" He called, waving his arms.  
  
Immediately, Carolina's mind went to trying to find a way to get to him, but unfortunately, there were none. Her fists clenched in a growing wave of frustration.  
  
"Fuck." York whispered next to her, and immediately she was certain that he had arrived at the same conclusion.  
  
"Just leave him!" South demanded, starting off down the hallway.  
  
A horrible silence possessed the group for a second before Carolina made a decision, straightening up with immediate determination.  
  
"Wash! I need you to tie all of your blankets together and use it to climb out of your window."  
  
His eyes widened.  
  
"What? That'll never work!!"  
  
"Just do it!" She shouted, taken by surprise as York grabbed her hand and began to run.  
  
A sickening feeling started to spread all throughout her chest, but with no time to spare she shoved it down, continuing to run as fast as she possibly could.  
  
They passed South, who had collapsed against a wall. Carolina thought she saw North stop to help, but York and her continued on without stopping.  
  
York fell, no less than ten yards from the front door. Part of the ceiling fell on him, which he tried to dodge, but his terrible depth perception made it impossible, and he went down.  
  
He gave a cry, and Carolina shouted as a fireman tugged her away.  
  
The smoke was getting thick now, too stagnant to breathe, and she coughed, unable to struggle as two of them carried her down the steps of the school, down to the stretcher.  
  
Connie. Wash. North and South.  
  
York.  
  
Her mind was in shambles, trying to remember the names of the people she hadn't seen whilst trying to escape.  
  
Maine. Wyoming. Florida.  
  
Somewhere, somebody screamed something about a kid falling.  
  
But Carolina was already slipping; the paramedics covered her mouth with an oxygen mask, and the second she gave in, the spots in her vision pulled her seamlessly into the slick darkness.  
  
When she awoke next, Wash was in the chair next to her hospital bed, sleeping. The back of his head was covered in bandages, and an arm, his neck, and both legs were wrapped in casts.  
  
For a minute, Carolina bided her time  inspecting her surroundings. Her body was covered in burn marks, and her lungs ached slightly at the air continued flowing through them.  
  
She shook Wash awake gently, and felt her heart twinge a little in grief at the relieved look on his face when he saw her.  
  
"Hey," He croaked after a long second, painstakingly sitting up from where he had been resting his head.  
  
"Wash- I'm glad you're okay. How are the others?"  
  
His face crumpled, and she knew. Immediately, without him speaking a single word, somehow she knew.  
  
"You and I got out. They brought York to the hospital, but. I'm sorry."  
  
"Right." Carolina stared in front of herself blankly, fighting the intense storm of rage and grief overtaking her.  
  
"They couldn't find Tex." Wash continued after a moment.  
  
"Nobody saw her?"  
  
"No. Maine, neither."  
  
"...At all?"  
  
"No! No one..They were just...gone." He sounded understandably sullen.  
  
In fact, Wash stayed sullen for the next few months. And then for a while after that, when they were both forced to go back to public school.  
  
That's when the strange changes began happening to them both.  
  
Carolina had always been athletic, but after the fire, she barely even had to try to stay fit. Her metabolism easily matched that of a 20 year old's.  
  
Wash was the only one who understood. He sprang up four inches, no longer the tiny kid he was back in the seventh grade.  
  
When Carolina finally transformed, it was a culmination of all her pent up rage. She destroyed part of her room, escaped through the window  
  
When she woke up in the bush on her new front lawn, she thought that she had finally lost her mind. But then she went to school, and saw Tex.  
  
Tex, chatting with a black-haired, bitter looking kid. Smirking like nothing was wrong.  
  
Carolina felt a rumble in her chest as she seethed in anger, marching right up to the other girl and shoving her back. Tex's face morphed from amusement to annoyance, and she immediately (and threateningly) straightened up.  
  
"Carolina! What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Me? Why did _you_  set that fire!" She snarled back, ignoring Tex's red hot glare and stepping closer.  
  
"Look, I don't know-" The boy next to Tex started, but Carolina shoved him down with one hand.  
  
This made Tex angrier than she'd ever seen her, grabbing Carolina and pinning her back to the wall with one hand.  
  
"Cool your head, Carolina." She grit out, ignoring the teachers trying to pull her off.  
  
"I didn't set any fire, I just happened to be gone when it happened."  
  
"Yeah right!" Carolina bit back, withering a little under Tex's scowl as the teachers finally managed to tug her away.  
  
But in the coming weeks, she slowly became more accustomed to the idea. Tex didn't have scars from the fire of course, but she acted differently around the kids from the new school.  
  
She was still ridiculously aggravating, but somewhat less so, now. More calm, as if after all this time, something had finally clicked into place.  
  
Still Wash picked fights with the new kids, and after losing all her other friends, Carolina began expending most of her energy into worrying about him.  
  
After witnessing one such fight with a boy named 'Lopez' ("For God's sake Wash, he doesn't even speak English!"), she followed him into the men's locker room.  
  
"Go away!" He shouted immediately, in a cold voice she wasn't used to.  
  
Ignoring the demand, she continued forwards, and found herself slammed back into one of the lockers. Twisting around, Wash had a look of shock embedded into his features, but Carolina still shoved him harder up against a wall.  
  
"B-Boss, I'm so sorry..I didn't know it was-"  
  
"You need. To calm. Down." She grit out, eyeing him distrustfully.  
  
"...I'm sorry."  
  
"You should be! What the hell has gotten into you?"  
  
Wash let out a sigh, averting his eyes, and she had to resist hard not to roll her own.  
  
"I can't..Boss, you'll think that I'm crazy."  
  
"We're both crazy, Wash. But I need you to tell me."  
  
Carolina released his shoulders after a long pause. Wash sighed and nodded, stretching some, before stripping off his shirt and shoes.  
  
After a second of contemplation, he went and locked the door, taking a deep pause of concentration, and letting the change come over him.  
  
Greyish fur sprouted from his pores, bones cracked. Carolina watched with a unique fascination, eyeing his coat with a new sense of suspicion and concern.  
  
"They must have done something to us!" She declared suddenly, ignoring Wash's startled jump.  
  
His human pants, boxers, and one lone sock had survived the transformation, and looked comical, sagging wrongly on him in his wolf form.  
  
Wash furrowed his brow, and after a second transformed back, fumbling to pull on the rest of his clothes.  
  
"What are you talking about?" He demanded, swearing as he struggled to re-buckle his belt.  
  
"I can do that too," Carolina said.  
  
"Wash, I know you must be aggravated, but you can't give us away..We need to know what happened at that school."  
  
She looked up at him with a steady gaze, but he just looked stunned, staring back with a startled look she hadn't seen from him ever since the fire.  
  
"But what if..What if somebody comes after us." He said after a moment's pause, clearing his throat and trying to sound level-headed.  
  
Carolina cracked her knuckles, eyeing his new, stronger form, and then her own appreciatively.  
  
They had both lost everything in the fire, and if there was even a chance of gaining revenge for what happened, Carolina was sure that Wash would be just as ready to take it as she would.  
  
"I think we'll be okay," She stated with a small nod of her head.  
  
And for a while they were, hunting clues together, and then hunting for real once a month, in the forest, cloaked in fur.  
  
Tex continued to act cagey as hell, but Carolina felt further disinclined than she usually would to tear out the other's throat. At one point, she convinced Wash to ask Tex if she had been having canine urges.  
  
It was an awful plan, in hindsight. Immediately, it escalated to Church trying to punch Wash for indirectly calling his "girlfriend" a bitch, and then Tex actually punching Wash for moving to punch Church.  
  
Tucker practically fell out of his seat laughing at it. Wash tugged him up and raised his fist, but was startled out of doing anything by Tucker's immediate come-ons.  
  
"Woah man," He said with a nervous laugh.  
  
"I'm not sure if I'm into such a tall stack of meat."  
  
"...Huh?" Wash stared.  
  
"I mean, you must get it on like _hard_ , if you know what I'm sayin'."  
  
"... _Excuse_ me??" His eyes narrowed in confusion.  
  
No friendship sprung from that immediately. No, first it took a catalyst, which for most of them was Wash running into a huge white wolf in the woods.  
  
He had separated from Carolina to try and find a rabbit he had seen dart away into the deeper forest. The white wolf came out of nowhere, appearing in the corner under a cliff of rock and pouncing onto Wash.  
  
Wash howled, thrashing under the unnatural wolf for a moment before spotting the scars at it's throat.  
  
_Maine?_  
  
Before he could process the new information, a smaller black wolf also pounced out of nowhere, sinking it's jaws into Maine's shoulder.  
  
He roared, flinging the black wolf off, as a familiar voice hollered from the forest where the black one came from.  
  
"TEX!"  
  
Wash got on his feet to see Church off to the side, his expression crazed, face stricken with a panic.  
  
He turned around and moved back, watching Maine and Tex fight, two bundles of snarling fur and fangs moving over each other.  
  
Tex was faster, but Maine was larger, taking all of the scratches and bites she inflicted as if they were only paper cuts.  
  
Tex bit him again and again, but all it did was rile him up, and with one quick turn, and a powerful crunch of his jaws, it was all over.  
  
Maine tossed her body from his mouth, and licked his bloody chops as Church gave a loud scream and ran over to it.  
  
Wash, although stiff with shock, found the strength to move backwards towards the edge of the cliff as the white wolf turned his sights on him.  
  
Maine's eyes were clouded over unseeingly, and his fur bristled as he approached, growling. Wash howled again for backup, and was relieved to spot Carolina approaching from the trees next to where Church was hunched over.  
  
She eyed Tex for a second before running to help Wash, who at this point was perched as close as he could be to the edge.  
  
Maine snapped at his legs a few times and Wash yelped, springing forwards to bite Maine's ear.  
  
With a growl, the other wolf shook him off, soon enough letting out a snarl as Carolina sunk her fangs into his haunches.  
  
Wash took advantage of the distraction, biting onto his stomach while claws roughly scraped across his back.  
  
He growled, and Carolina bit Maine again, shoving him forwards-  
  
Right off the edge of the tall cliff.

 

A dead silence spread throughout the clearing for a long moment. Carolina stepped back.

  
Wash limped forwards, struggling to see where he'd landed, but it looked to be at least a hundred feet down.  
  
Quickly, he gave in to his fatigue, and collapsed to the ground bonelessly.  
  
Carolina spared a moment of concern to look him over, before heading back to Church, and Tex's body.  
  
Tex's body was still in wolf form, which was probably for the best so that it wasn't nakedly human. Still, it gave Carolina a strange, sick kind of feeling to see it, and she had to push it down deeply in her stomach.  
  
Church had wiped his eyes, but they were still obviously red, and he looked up at Carolina with a resigned expression as she gave him a jerk of her head.  
  
She picked up Tex's body by the scruff of it's neck, padding through the forest slowly as she dragged it. Church walked beside her, and Wash limped along behind them at an unsteady pace.  
  
Her and Wash stopped at the usual cave where they hid their clothes, but by the time Carolina had emerged, Church had already retrieved a shovel from somewhere and started digging.  
  
With a minute of hesitation, she helped dig Tex's grave, as much as it angered and confused her to do so.  
  
Mostly she just felt a silent resentment, which she did not voice to Church, who was already exuding his grief by mocking Wash for "sitting around" while he and Carolina did all the hard work.  
  
Wash, unknowing of the fact that Church already guessed who he was, took care staying inside the cave and treating his wounds to protect his identity.  
  
Carolina, fed up with the day's events, decided not to tell him, at least for the time being.  
  
Besides, after that night's events, Wash never returned to hunt with her on full moons in the cave. She figured that losing Maine was the last straw after losing everybody else, and didn't question it.  
  
Both of them also began associating with the Reds and Blues freely, and vehemently avoiding all mention of the past boarding school, or the unique canine phenomena it had spawned.  
  
There just wasn't ever a reason to bring it up again, at least wherever  Wash was concerned.  
  
Church cheered back up (at least to his usual sour self) fairly quickly, and Carolina found herself somewhat unsurprised when he eventually approached her to try and find out more about the school they once came from.  
  
His sophomore year, both him and Carolina took time off to be "homeschooled". In reality, they took online courses, and spent all of their free time furiously searching for information on the deceased Director, and for anything else that could help explain the crazy events that had taken place.  
  
All of their friends felt betrayed. Church's friends, because he had gone through so much with them throughout the years. Wash, because he was now alone in a somewhat-unfamiliar place, trying to deal with a slew of newfound abilities.  
  
But soon enough, everybody left behind calmed down too. The Reds were just happy that there was now one less blue (Tex) despite the arrival of a new recruit (Wash). Caboose had first adopted Wash, then later Tucker accepted him as a Blue.  
  
Most people, if they knew what was good for them, just assumed that Tex had run away again. She really didn't have a local family, anyways.  
  
Only three in the town knew the whole truth, and even then, Carolina knew that her and Church should have let Wash know about their previous research way sooner.  
  
They had re-enrolled senior year because Church missed his friends, and Carolina was sick and tired of hiding from the persistent truancy officers who would knock at her door.  
  
Everybody but Wash and Tucker treated them as if they had never left, but those were amends that Carolina previously had not feared to make-  
  
Until now.  
  
She should have caught up with Wash sooner, but now it was too late. He needed her help, and no matter who, or what had hurt him, Carolina swore on her life to tear it apart.  
  
As long as she got there in time.  
______________________________  
  
Wash was never a huge fan of the 'damsel in distress trope', but that's certainly how he felt while waiting for Carolina to arrive.  
  
He didn't touch his phone- could barely just stand looking at it after the messages he had received. It buzzed a few times after he curled up, but without much debate, he decidedly ignored it. Wash was too busy trying to forget the disgusting taste in his mouth, left over from his initial reaction to the photo.  
  
Back at the boarding school, he had been sick plenty of times, enough so that most of his teachers could take just one look at him before they forcefully sent him back to his room.  
  
Not that he protested it that much anyways, considering that back in his earlier teens, schoolwork wasn't that important to him. However, being confined to bed bored him, and every second away from his friends was always pure torture.  
  
'Wash,' Maine signed at him one time, giving him a noticeably flat look from across the room.  
  
'You are not going to classes today.'  
  
"I feel fine!" Wash remembers protesting, struggling to strip off his bedtime tank-top before giving a loud sneeze.  
  
Maine simply shook his head before he walked over, pushing the other boy back down onto his bed before crossing his arms.  
  
'Stay here. Or I'll tell Connie.' He continued signing.  
  
Wash paled.  
  
"You wouldn't!"  
  
But as he viewed Maine's self-satisfied smirk, thirteen year old Wash wasn't so sure anymore.  
  
Present day Wash would have given anything to see Connie's angry glare again. She used to shoot him dirty looks whenever he said anything contrasting her views on politics, or anything that denied any of the suspicions she held against the school.  
  
She died the same way by which Wash lived: trying to climb down from her window using blankets.  
  
According to reports, the fire had already spread too far into the girl's dormitory by the time that CT had begun to try building a rope.  
  
However, Wash had been gifted with slightly more time, and managed a fairly long rope to climb down before free-falling down about twenty feet.  
  
He couldn't say that he wasn't unhappy Connie didn't survive. But at least he could feel grateful to her for spreading the idea to Carolina that saved his life.  
  
Speaking of whom had just walked into his field of vision, crouching next to him and inspecting his body for visible wounds.  
  
"Wash, are you okay?"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"Is it physical?"  
  
Another shake of the head.  
  
Carolina sighed. With only a little bit of hesitation, she carefully reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"My phone," Wash rasped after a second, clearing his throat.  
  
"My phone. Check the recent messages."  
  
Carolina looked at him in obvious surprise before nodding. There was a shuffling noise as she picked it up from the leaves, and then typed in his passcode.  
  
Wash had guessed that she would find them in under a minute at least, and he was right. Only about thirty seconds later, he could make out the sound of a low growl building in her throat.  
  
"Who the hell is Locus?" She demanded, turning back towards him.  
  
"New kid- green eyes, built like a wall... I could smell him on Tucker in the ER."  
  
"Shit.." Carolina shook her head.  
  
"Did you threaten him?"  
  
Wash shrugged, sitting up.  
  
"Kind of. I almost started a confrontation before Church walked in."  
  
He rubbed his neck sheepishly, but Carolina reached out to stop the gesture, giving him a kind look.  
  
"I don't blame you for wanting to protect your friend, Wash."  
  
"...Really?"  
  
"No. But if we're ever going to figure out what's really going on here, we should lay low for now."  
  
Wash thought about it for a few seconds before giving a sigh and nodding, looking back up.  
  
"I'll try my best, Boss."  
  
"Good. Do you feel well enough to walk home?"  
  
"Sure-...Aaas long as you promise not to keep anything from me anymore."  
  
"I'll catch you up on the way there." Carolina assured, offering him her hand as he began to stand up and gather his things.  
  
______________________________  
  
"Malcolm whonow?"  
  
"Hargrove. He was in charge of the initiative that investigated the fire."  
  
"Okay..But how does that explain Locus's abilities? You said that everybody who went to the school was probably part of some elaborate experiment. Did he go there?"  
  
"I don't know. Neither of us remember seeing him around, but anything's possible. I'll get Church to check the records."  
  
"Right. Okay." Wash let out a huge exhale.  
  
"Thank you for...Finally explaining all of this to me. I wanted to tackle it on my own, but I didn't even have an idea of where to start."  
  
"I should have kept you up to date last year," Carolina admitted.  
  
"But I'm glad that you're acting totally reasonable now."  
  
"Just glad that you're here, I guess." He gave a long sigh, looking up at where the half moon was rising.  
  
Carolina followed his gaze.  
  
"Are your parents going to be mad that you're coming home so late? I mean, after what happened to Tucker."  
  
"Probably." Is all that Wash replied.  
  
Her eyes narrowed slightly.  
  
"They're right to be concerned, you know..You should worry about your own safety more often. And I know they're not always the best parents, but they're there for you."  
  
Wash nodded some, looking back at her.  
  
"..How's it going with the whole..you know. 'Fostering' thing anyways? You don't really talk about your foster parents much."  
  
Carolina groaned, kicking a rock with her foot into somebody's mailbox- a sure sign that she had been trying to forget about this particular topic in conversation.  
  
"It's...Difficult. They still have some other kids that they're fostering along with me, which I like, but it's like the parents don't even realize that I'm a person too."  
  
"..Sure the little kids they can just coddle or teach, but me? Either they try and talk to me like I'm five, or forget that I'm there at all."  
  
"I'm sorry." Wash said quietly, letting his feet scuff on the sidewalk as a car passed them, sending a short breeze into the night.  
  
"It's not your fault. Besides, I actually do enjoy getting to play older sister. Every morning I get to make lunches for the four of them." She hums.  
  
"Right, that's a lot of kids. What are their names again?"  
  
"Delta, Theta, Sigma, and Gamma. They've all been through some rough times, so they're a little weird for kids..But I still like them."  
  
"Who's your favorite?" Wash asked teasingly, quirking an eyebrow.  
  
Carolina scowled, although her eyes took on an interesting light that showed she was actually pondering the question.  
  
"..Theta is sweet. But I think York would have found Delta's endless stream of queries amusing. Sigma is the weirdest of the bunch. I always think he's up to something..."  
  
Wash snorted, and this time she punched his shoulder.  
  
"Come on, it's true. I'm honestly kind of surprised that he never found out what Church and I were investigating." Carolina shrugged.  
  
They continued walking, eyeing the passing lights of cars until they finally reached the long driveway leading up to Wash's house.  
  
"Thank you for walking me home," He said, reshouldering his bag.  
  
"It...means a lot to me."  
  
Carolina smiled at him, knocking her shoulder against his as she started to walk away.  
  
"Get inside Wash, it's getting cold out. Besides, your mom looks pissed."  
  
Turning around, Wash winced as he indeed noticed his mother frantically gesturing to him from the window.  
  
"...Right. Well. Thanks."  
  
He turned around and raised his lips in an awkward smile back, which seemed to please her.  
  
Instead of waiting around for Carolina to leave, Wash turned quickly instead, heading inside.  
  
His parents were indeed, exceedingly mad. The second he walked in, he was practically grounded on the doorstep.  
  
But he wasn't that upset. He did scare them, after all.  
  
Besides, Wash had work to do. Pulling out his phone, when he was finally alone up in his room, he typed in and stared at the number marked 'Unknown' for quite some time.  
  
The area code wasn't local, that much was obvious. However, the number hadn't said anything to give itself away.  
  
Curiously, he sent it a message.  
  
From Wash: Hello?  
  
While he waited for a response, Wash  sat back onto his bed, surveying the room.  
  
It was of a decent size, and barely lived in. Usually, it was spotless, empty and militantly clean. However, Tucker's teal jacket spoiled the image, still on his bedpost from where it was last tossed months earlier.  
  
He reached out and touched the jacket lightly, sighing as he glanced at the phone in his other hand.  
  
"This is pointless." Wash grumbled, sniffing the jacket once to see if Tucker's smell had faded yet (it had), and then vowing to return it the next day.  
  
He flopped back onto his bed and set the phone aside, reaching up and turning off his lamp with a quiet 'click'.  
  
Wash didn't have high hopes for sleeping- especially since his metabolism burned through sleeping medicine like it was nothing.  
  
However, in his haste to try and sleep, he completely missed the next few messages to his phone.  
  
From Tucker: hey wash  
  
From Tucker: you still awake?  
  
From Tucker: oh come on, you're always awake  
  
From Tucker: didn't you say you used to have a bone problem or something? 

From Tucker: (bow chicka bow wow)

From Tucker: still, my back is aching like a motherfucker  
  
From Tucker: got any meds i could snag?  
  
From Tucker: ..ah, who the fuck am i kidding  
  
From Tucker: i can literally hear you lecturing in my head as we speak  
  
From Tucker: saying something dumb like  
  
From Tucker: I'm Not Sure that this is the best course of action, Tucker.  
  
From Tucker: or maybe like  
  
From Tucker: If you actually talked to your Doctor about that rash instead of me, maybe you wouldn't be having these kinds of issues.  
  
From Tucker: ...  
  
From Tucker: okay dude, either you're ignoring me, or you actually are sleeping  
  
From Tucker: is it weird that i feel some sense of... pride? along with this? 

From Tucker: MTV showcase of the night- wash actually gets some shuteye

From Tucker: the crowd goes wild.

From Tucker: okay but, ignore all that shit. i don't wanna risk waking you up anyways  
  
From Tucker: night, wash.

From Tucker: sweet dreams.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, so don't panic, but i'm removing the lolix tag from this fic until it actually comes into play.
> 
> this is only just to keep the tags clean, yadda yadda, ec cetera, but i promise you all it won't actually change anything in the story!
> 
> i've already started the next chapter and lemme tell you it is tooth rottingly cute. hold onto your tuckington hats my boys... ;)
> 
> and happy new year!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tucker takes his bestie wash and his new friend felix ice skating. what could go wrong.

  
Tucker was, albeit, a little nervous to introduce Wash and Felix to each other.

When he asked Sister about it, she had just told him first to "Go with the flow!" and then "Set them up ;)". Ignoring the second part (and all of the winky faces which followed after it), Tucker figured that it was, overall, not the worst advice.

So Saturday morning, he invited both Wash and Felix over so that the three of them could go ice skating.

Honestly, he expected Wash to show up first. But instead of his usually early visitor, he got Felix ringing the doorbell at one in the afternoon.

"Wash?" Tucker asked, when he opened the door.

"No." Felix squinted at him, resting a hand on his hip.

Trying to ignore the slight burn of his cheeks, Tucker cleared his throat, trying to play it off as subtly as he could.

"...Nevermind. Shit. You woke me up, just get inside."

He yawned as he stepped back, letting Felix in.

"Nice skirt." Tucker remarked after a few seconds, eyeing it.

"I know." Felix smirked, tossing his hair under the compliment. Tucker rolled his eyes.

"..Why the hell aren't you wearing a shirt yet, anyways," Felix stared at him.

"It's not like I rang your doorbell at seven in the morning."

"Slept in." Tucker shrugged, waving his hand before starting to walk up the stairs back to his room.

"Right. Your brother isn't around to bite me, is he?" Felix peered around suspiciously, stepping out of his sneakers to follow.

"No. I hope you brought thick socks for the rink. I'll zone out if I have to listen to you bitch about your blisters the entire time."

"I'll be fine," Felix drawled, waving his hand around dramatically to ward off the comment.

"Where's your other friend, the Georgia kid?"

"Washington, actually."

"Does it look like I care? Idaho. Whatever. He's late."

"Just call him Wash, dude. But I dunno, he's usually crazy early. Maybe he just got caught up in traffic."

"What kind of car does he have?" His eyes brightened ever so slightly with interest.

"...None. Foot traffic, then." Tucker snickered a little at Felix's scowl, pulling on a T-shirt.

Just as he was beginning to realize that he had put on his shirt on backwards however, without warning, the doorbell rang.

"Shit." Tucker swore.

"I'll get it."

Before he could protest, Felix was already sliding out of the room, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Wash was standing calmly on the other side of the door when it opened. His eyes widened a little when he saw Felix lounged against the doorframe, giving his most charming smile.

"Well well, if it isn't the man of the hour. Wash, I presume?"

"Yes, that's right." Washington looked at him suspiciously, peering over his shoulder towards the inside of the house.

After a few seconds of no luck, he sighed, giving a petulant glare to the man blocking the door.

"Is Tucker here? We were supposed to head to the ice rink."

"Yeah, I know." Felix said a little blandly, dropping his arm.

"Oh," He awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Good, then."

There was a long silence that involved Wash 'casually' looking away, determining the best method to politely excuse himself.

He breathed in through his nose, and immediately had to fight the urge to gag at the smell that overwhelmed him. Unmistakable, traumatizing, 7th grade locker room flashbacks.

Axe. A shit ton of it, all reeking off of Felix. The sheer stench of it made Wash want to cry.

Rolling his eyes, Felix simply stepped a foot back from the door, just as Tucker was coming down.

"Hey Wash!" He called with a smile, looking back and forth between them.

"You and Felix met?"

"I didn't have the pleasure." Felix crossed his arms.

Tucker blinked and then shrugged, gesturing at them both.

"Wash, Felix. Felix, Wash."

"...That's it?" Raising an eyebrow, he gave Wash a once-over.

Tucker glanced back and forth between them, drawling back at Felix with a sarcastic tone.  
  
"Uh, yeah. Not exactly about to roll out the red carpet for you, dude."

Wash cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry but- who exactly is he? And why is he here?" He stared at Felix in confusion, brow furrowing.

"Felix is in my class with Kimball. He hasn't really done much in town, so I thought it would be fun if he came along with us."

"..Right."

Tucker hummed as he took in Wash's appearance. Wash felt the urgent need to brush his hair.

"Is there a.." Felix paused. "Problem? Here?"

A small breeze blew by, and Wash's nose crinkled at the smell. Fucking. Axe. Deodorant.

"No... not at all. I just wasn't.. expecting company." He shot a frank look at Tucker, who immediately pleaded with his best argument-winning grin.

"...Skating! Have either of you done it before?"

Felix, who was already putting on his shoes, shook his head.

"Nope."

"Not even a little." Wash admitted.

"Great. Good thing I chose a slow day, yeah? Lets get going."

Tucker started out the house without pause, smiling at Wash as he passed. After a second of surprise, Wash jogged after him, holding something outstretched in his hand.

"Wait- Tucker. This belongs to you. You left it at my house a long while ago."

"Holy shit Wash..This is my favorite jacket?" Tucker flashed blinding white teeth in a huge grin, not hesitating at all when he reached out and grabbed the teal windbreaker.

"Thanks dude."

"No problem." Wash couldn't help a small smile from forming on his lips, but it quickly faded as Felix jogged up to Tucker's other side.

"So, now that the..introductions are out of the way. Why the fuck don't any of the teens in this town seem to know how to drive?" Felix looked at them both, his eyebrow quirked.

Tucker laughed without warning, startling Wash.

"What, you don't know either?" Wash shook his head.

"The only official driving instructor in this entire town is Sarge. No idiot but Caboose or the Reds would ever risk their life in a car with him."

"So Caboose knows how to drive?"

"Not even just that man, he has a license."

Wash smirked, and quickly, Tucker's eyebrows furrowed.

"..What?"

"I have a license."

"You shit!" He exclaimed, jostling Wash's shoulder in a playful way.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"It just never came up in conversation." Wash chuckled, and was surprised to see a slight smile on Felix's face. He quickly glanced away.

"Are you serious? We could have done so much shit if I'd known! Hit up nightclubs, pick up girls.."

"Tucker, I still don't have a car."

"Fuck that! We could have totally found one."

"A ride from Caboose, maybe?" Felix suggested suddenly, oozing mock innocence.

"Fat fucking chance.. The day I get into a car with that dumbass is the day when Donut shows up to prom holding a girl's hand."

"Called it." Felix muttered. Wash rolled his eyes.

"Besides," Tucker continued. "He just had his license suspended. For the fuck-umpteenth time."

"What did he do?" Wash looked over in concern.

"Lets see..Probably forgetting to hold onto the wheel, again. Last time he barely missed hitting a daycare."

"Jesus."

A car slowed down next to them and honked, scaring the shit out of Felix, and making Wash step into a defensive stance.

"Hey assholes!" Shouted a familiar voice.

Tucker glanced over and grinned when he spotted the orange truck, jogging over to offer Grif a fistbump.

The other man was leaning out the left window smoking a cigarette. Tucker gave him a jerk of his head, halfway zipping up his jacket with gusto.

"Sup?" He asked.

Grif simply inclined his head. "Need a ride?"

From the passenger’s seat, Simmons, whose face was even more broken out than usual, shot both of them a scowl.

"But they're blues! Sarge is gonna have a conniption."  
  
"Which is why we don't fucking tell him. Jesus, Simmons. You're such a kissass, even donkeys can't spend more than a few seconds listening to you."

Ignoring the now-grumbling and sulking other, Tucker leaned further through the window.

"So... what. We got a ride?"

"As long as you're cool, dude."

"Sweet."

Tucker didn't hesitate before climbing into the far side of the backseat. He then gestured to Felix and Wash, which, inevitably, led to Felix awkwardly crammed into the middle seat.

"Feelin' toasty?" Grif drawled.

Felix, was obviously not amused.

"Shut the fuck up."

With a small snicker Grif started up the car once again. Wash scooted as far away from everyone as he could in the tight space.

The entire car, because of Felix, positively reeked of Axe. Wash couldn't help but groan.

"So, where are you guys headed?" Grif asked.

Immediately, Simmons could not hold in his interjection.

"Grif, that's my job to ask!"

"Why the fuck does it have to be anybody's job?"

"Because I'm the navigator!"

Wash slowly raised his hand, garnering everyone's combined attention.

"We're heading for the ice rink," He answered simply.

"...Wait. Really?" Simmons turned around in his seat to look at them.

"Yeah, is that such a big deal?" Tucker snorted.

"Well no, but we were just headed there too."

"Amazing," Wash remarked. The sarcasm prominently bled through his voice. "I see nature is up to cosmic coincidences, again."

Tucker snorted, and Wash gave a little smile, crossing his legs. Felix gave a little huff.

"Laugh it up assholes," Grif declared, taking a sharp turn, and honking at the school as they passed by. "We'll see how everyone does once we're on the rink."

"Sure. Like you're any good." Tucker commented with a laugh.

"Actually, it may surprise you, but ice skating is probably the one physical sport Grif fails the least at." Simmons remarked.

"How?"

"...I'm still trying to figure that part out."

In the background, Felix began humming along to a catchy pop-tune on the radio- quickly enticing Wash to glance over. Wash's voice was a little stiff at first, but after clearing his throat, he still attempted to make steady conversation.

"..So. Felix. Do you like to sing??"

Raising his eyebrow, Felix gave him a scoff. And then, a small, patronizing chuckle.

"Please. If I thought the world was ready for me to bless it with my voice, cancer would have already been cured. Bald people would have hair." He paused. "Angels would rename themselves 'Felix', probably just to resemble me a single shred."

"Well, then," Wash said, raising an eyebrow. "Why don't you give us all a taste of talent?"

Felix stiffened up in his seat, and Wash had to resist the upwards pull of his lips. For whatever reason, he was kind of disappointed that Tucker was too distracted by Grif and Simmons to see what was happening right now.

"Okay, but you see Wash, my looks alone make other people feel like shit," He started, and Wash rolled his eyes.

"If I started showing off all of my amazing talents left and right? Well..Everybody just might start feeling downright useless."

Looking extremely satisfied with his own explanation, Felix settled back into his seat. Wash, trying to ignore the arm that was now nonchalantly touching his own, just gave a long sigh.

Tucker's friends, he calmly reminded himself. They're always a piece of work.

"Okay, everybody out." Grif announced, turning off the car, and sliding out of his seat.  
  
Tucker was the very first to climb out of the car, starting to stretch as both Wash and Felix looked on, unimpressed.

"What?" He asked, pausing in his stretches when he finally noticed them looking.

Wash just shook his head.

"Tucker. We were only in the car for a few minutes."

"Yeah, but so what? I wanna get all loose and ready to hit the ice."

A few seconds passed. Tucker's face turned devious.

Felix just leaned even closer to Wash in their conjoined car seat, causing his face to twist in discomfort.

"Is he actually for real about all the constant shitty sex jokes? Because even after a week, I really can't tell."

"Nobody can." Wash murmured back to Felix, ignoring the curious look that Tucker was shooting at him.

"See you inside, slowpokes!" Grif called, waving as he walked away. Simmons quickly followed after.

"Yeah.. Suck it, blues!"

"Fucked your sister!" Tucker yelled back.

Grif's middle finger shot up into the air, fast as lightning. Simmons grabbed onto his hood as he walked, telling him to 'wait up' frantically. Subsequently, Grif wrapped an arm around his waist to usher him in.

"Fuck."

Wash looked up at Felix's sudden exclamation, and he stared at Tucker furiously. Tucker himself was wearing a shit-eating grin.

"I told you man, now hand it over."

His confusion only deepened as Felix slapped a wrinkled five dollar bill into Tucker's outstretched hand, which he quickly pocketed.

"Were you two..Placing bets on them?" Wash asked cautiously.

"Yeah, Felix is just a sore loser 'cause he thought they didn't hate each other enough to date." Tucker shook his head in obvious disapproval.

"You're not worth my time." Felix hissed, brushing past him to head inside. Wash breathed the clean air, letting out a sigh of relief at his departure.

Tucker was wearing his windbreaker now, and Wash had a strange moment of satisfaction when he saw how it hung off of his shoulders.

I'm just glad that he's safe. He reassured himself, moving closer to Tucker's casual form.

"Doesn't Felix seem a little bit. Well. Like a douche? To you?" Wash couldn't help himself from blurting out.

Tucker snorted, turning to face him better. His ponytail made a noise as it shifted across the jacket.

"Come on man, you've met Church." He stated with a little laugh, resting a hand on his hip.

"You're right," Wash found himself saying impulsively. "It was a ridiculous concern. I just...Don't want you to get hurt again."

He squirmed a little when he felt Tucker's attention on him, and glanced up in confusion when he heard the other's groan of exasperation.

"Wash.. I don't need you to always take care of me. I mean, after all that shit you've been through? You shouldn't have to."

Wash felt a stab of warmth in his chest, taking another step forwards.

"Tucker, I want to. I want to keep you safe..Aaaas well as Caboose, and anyone else we both care about."

"What about Church?" The other asked with a grin.

"That's pushing it."

Tucker let out a laugh, slinging his arm around his shoulder. Wash crossed his arms, but he strangely felt more relaxed than he had in days.

"Come on asshole, let's head inside. I know how much you hate the cold, but I'd give anything to see you suck at one sport."

"I'm lousy at basketball." Wash murmured, but still he walked with Tucker inside, immediately shivering at the change in temperature.

Tucker noticed, but he didn't offer anything, aside from telling Wash to zip up his jacket in order to, 'stay warm, douchebag'.

Off to the side, he could see Felix struggling to lace up his skates as Grif snarked at him. Simmons stood off to the side reprimanding him, but his legs still shook while he tried to keep balance on his skates, wobbling like a newborn foal.

"Check out those sad losers," Tucker remarked, paying to rent both Wash's skates and his own before the other could protest.

"How did you even know what size shoe I wear." Wash took his pair from the counter, giving him a weird glance.

Snorting, Tucker gestured him over to an empty bench and sat. "What, seriously?" He looked up at Wash as he talked, pulling off his sneakers.

"Haven't you ever heard what girls say about a guy's foot size?"

No answer. The other man silently began putting on his skates.

"...Wash?"

"..That he has to spend more money on shoes?"

"Oh my God."

Tucker gave a little snort-laugh into his hand, and noticed Wash smiling despite himself. The other had laced his skates up as tightly as he possibly could without causing himself pain- out of sheer paranoia. Classic Wash.

(Little did he know that Wash was suppressing a laugh at the mental image of himself trying to skate in wolf form).

"Come on slowpokes!" Grif called out, sliding out onto the ice with Simmons stumbling behind. Felix eyed Wash and Tucker with a small frown on his face, crossing his arms petulantly.

"..If you sick fucks think that I'm taking one step on that ice alone, then you must be out of your minds."

The two in question exchanged a look before Tucker again took the lead, casually strolling over to Felix in his skates. Glancing behind himself, it was admittedly satisfying to see Wash stumbling after him.

"Right, so you two just gotta move your skates outwards, yeah? Slow and steady. Smooth, like sex. But way colder." He climbed onto the ice and demonstrated a little, before turning and waiting for them.

Felix tried first, immediately letting out a deep noise and clinging to the wall. His legs kicked out aimlessly as he scrambled to keep upright, already looking angry at the new dynamic. Wash fared only slightly better, sliding stiffly forwards at the crawl of a snail.

Across the rink, Tucker could spot Grif easily making circles around Simmons. It was quickly evident that his boyfriend was taunting him from the way that both of their voices raised.

"How the actual fuck are you doing this?!" Simmons shouted in frustration.

"You just do it, Simmons," Grif retorted boredly. Evidently tired of doing the same thing, he cut into a flawless figure eight. Tucker stared. "You just. Do."

He continued staring, however, a sudden hand tugging at his jacket was enough to startle him from his reverie. Glancing over, Tucker couldn't help but allow his face to break out into a grin at Felix's scowl.

"I hate this." The other stated simply. He sounded a little too calm from how well Tucker knew him.

"Yeah, and?"

Felix straightened up, giving him a deadpan expression.

"Give me ten dollars and I'll buy you all hot chocolate. Otherwise I'm keying Grif's car."

"What, that old pile of junk?" Tucker was already digging through his wallet anyways, though. He slapped a ten in Felix's outstretched hand.

"Don't trip on your way out."

With a smug nod, Felix began shuffling back past Wash, and out the way he came. Wash continued moving forwards however, holding out both of his arms for a precarious balance. His brow was furrowed in concentration, and Tucker couldn't look at the wrinkle in his forehead without repressing a chuckle.

"Come on Wash, loosen up a little! You're never gonna get any better if you keep that stick up your ass."

"Charming," Wash remarked dryly, but he quickly took to the advice, making an honest attempt to calm down and relax. Tucker brushed a hand through his own hair, admiring the sudden shift.

"Yeah.. That's it. Good job, man." It was probably just his imagination, but for a second Tucker thought that he saw a slight raise of Wash's eyebrows. He began skating a little faster to keep pace with him, before sliding across the ice backwards in front of him. Wash muttered something, not even slightly discreet, about him being a showoff.

Tucker grinned-

And it was at that exact moment in that Wash pitched forwards, accidentally knocking him backwards down onto the ice.

Luckily, he missed hitting his head in favor of landing on his ass. However, it still hurt badly, and Tucker let out a groan, sitting up.

"Are you okay? Tucker. Are you injured." Wash, sprawled on top of the other, strained his head to try and get a better look. He reached out and cupped Tucker's cheek, tilting his chin to check, before inspecting the ice below him. After a few seconds of looking, he finally seemed to realize what he was staring at, and quickly glanced back at Tucker from his ass sheepishly .

For just a second, their eyes met, Wash sitting on top of Tucker, before they both burst into sudden, uncontrollable laughter.

Looking up at Wash, Tucker couldn't help but notice his strawberry-red face, comparing the contrast of his freckles along with it. It almost didn't seem like him, with how hard, and how openly he was laughing. Tucker, without remorse, stared some more.

...Has he always had those dimples?

"Here." A hand extended in front of Wash's face, and it took Tucker a few seconds to register that it was Grif's. Wash took the hand and clambered off of him, glancing back. Tucker, however, pushed himself up with no hesitation, rubbing his ass mournfully.  
  
"..I need some hot chocolate," He declared, looking to the rest of them for their opinions. Grif looked eager. Simmons, skeptical. Wash shrugged, despite the fact that Tucker knew about his massive sweet tooth. Nonchalant bastard.

He skated off of the ice, meticulously not looking back to see if anyone was following, before searching for Felix. Somehow, it wasn't a huge surprise to find the other texting in a dark corner of the rink, five cups of cocoa sitting out on the table in front of him.

"You look like you just got stood up by an entire volleyball team." Tucker remarked, snagging a cup and picking the marshmallows out of it. Felix sneered at him, setting his phone down in favor of chugging more of the chocolatey beverage.

"Thanks, for that. Are you and your friends ready to go, yet? We're not that far from my place, so I think I'm just gonna leave." Felix shrugged, stirring his spoon in the drink as he glanced up at Tucker.

Tucker just shrugged, peeking back at the ice, where Wash was starting to pick up skating by watching Grif. His brow was furrowing like it did whenever he concentrated hard, and Tucker felt an unexpected little warmth in his chest.

"Yeah.." He coughed, finally looking back. "I should be worried about you, buuuuut I think you'll be fine."

Felix muttered bitter retorts quietly. "Well, off I go. Sayonara, Tucker."

With a snarky salute he was off, stopping just outside the door to keep watch for a minute. From his position, Felix could see exactly how Tucker brightened up at the prospect of handing Wash his hot chocolate.

His lip curled slightly in disgust as he continued watching the two, Wash cringing, then laughing as Tucker blew bubbles from his straw.

Immature, his brain commented snidely.

It wasn't long before Wash was leaning forwards in his chair, casually using his thumb to wipe a smear of chocolate off of Tucker's mouth in exasperation.

Disgusting.

Felix quickly pulled out his phone, snapping a picture for 'evidence.' Then, easy as ever, he sent it straight to Locus.

From Annoying Idiot: [see attached] fuckn dick swooping in to steal the guy im fuckin with

For a minute, he angrily paced in silence, simmering, before he finally couldn't take it any longer.

From Annoying Idiot: i'm literally!!! going to bathe in his entrails, locus. say the FUCKING word.

From stick up ass: We're not. Going. To harm him.  


An exhale of disbelief escaped him, and he had to resist the urge to chuck his phone. He began to walk.   
  
From Annoying Idiot: aaaaaand why the fuck is that, huh?   
  
From Annoying Idiot: you got a soft spot for him already?   
  
From Annoying Idiot: well that's real cute. just fuckin  _ perfect _

From stick up ass: Another attack would be suspicious, and far too soon.

From stick up ass: Besides, they still only know about me. We cannot waste that level of advantage for more of your petty 'games'.

From Annoying Idiot: soooooooooo  
  
From Annoying Idiot: what do you wanna do, huh, asshole?  
  
From stick up ass: ...Meet me at the house in 6.  
  
From Annoying Idiot: buddy. partner. pal.   
  
From Annoying Idiot: i'm _at least_ like, 20 whole minutes away.  
  
From stick up ass: T hen hurry.   
  
With a noise of disgust, Felix pocketed his phone, and began to walk slightly faster.   
  
Behind him, in the cold ice rink closet, a freckled man, and one without, leaned in to change their friendship irrevocably.   
  
And Wash sipped a cup of hot chocolate, and adjusted his scarf with a smile, oblivious to the indirect kiss he was currently sharing, as he watched Tucker once again skate the ice.   
  
But only two of them were currently out of harm's way, whether they knew it or not.   
  
And somewhere, Locus reverted back to his human form, intently waiting for the orders to finally put their real plan into motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahAaaaaaa...
> 
> originally locus's name in felix's phone had a thumbs down and a knife emoji next to it. sadly, AO3 did not like that. your imaginations will have to suffice.


End file.
